Illinois House Says ‘Yes’ Recreational Marijuana

On May 31, the Illinois House voted 66-to-47 to legalize recreational marijuana, sending the bill to Gov. J. B. Pritzker, who helped propose it. In addition to legalizing recreational marijuana, the law pardons and expunges past criminal convictions for possession and non-violent crimes, but it does not allow residents to grow marijuana at home, except for medical use. One provision of the law gives residents from poor communities impacted by the war on drugs an advantage in seeking licenses to grow, process, transport or distribute marijuana. Another part of the bill calls for 25% of the tax revenue from marijuana sales to go toward grants in social programs in these communities. The state plans to launch recreational marijuana sales in January 2020, and expects recreational marijuana sales to produce up to $500 million in revenue for the state.

Read the full article on ChicagoBusiness.com.